Bruins winger Noel Acciari isn't taking any chances

Friday

Sep 29, 2017 at 7:37 PMSep 29, 2017 at 7:42 PM

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON – Nearly every sign indicates that Noel Acciari is one of the Bruins who can look at Saturday night’s game in Chicago as something like a controlled scrimmage – live competition, but mostly a tuneup for the real thing.Acciari isn’t taking any chances.

“It’s a preseason game,” said the 25-year-old Bruins winger, “but I’m still going to try to play my best hockey – treat it as if it’s my last game, just kind of leave everything out there.”

That’s Acciari’s way, as it is, but he’s also of the belief that a weak night in the preseason finale against the Blackhawks (8:30, WBZ-FM 98.5) could open the door for one of the many strong candidates in training camp to take his job.

“Definitely,” he said. “Everyone came into this camp ready, and there’s great talent here.

“There’s a little friendly competition – you’re friends with all these guys – but you’re also fighting for a job.”

If he hasn’t officially won the fight yet, Acciari seems at least to have a big lead heading into the final round of competition. Head coach Bruce Cassidy, a proponent of establishing pairs of forwards (think Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci-David Pastrnak) and then experimenting with different forwards to complete a full line, has almost never separated Acciari, a right wing, from center Riley Nash since training camp began two weeks ago.

It’s an extension of a fourth-line pairing unveiled in mid-March of last season, after Acciari was recalled from a 30-game stint at AHL Providence. Acciari scored his first two NHL goals, and Nash scored three of his seven, in 10 games together. (Dominic Moore, now in Toronto via free agency, completed the line.)

“I like playing with (Nash),” Acciari said of the five-year NHL veteran. “He’s been around the league now, so it’s good to learn from him. He’s been a big help.

“Our line clicked at the end of last year; it seemed like it was good for both of us to play together. I’m hoping we can continue that this year.”

First, though, Acciari wants to make sure he’s on the season-opening roster the Bruins must submit to the NHL on Tuesday, and then that he’s in the lineup for the Oct. 5 season opener against the Predators.

The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Providence College product, known for his clean, devastating checks, has goals past that, too.

“You know that making the opening night is a privilege,” he said, “but you’ve got to work hard to stay there.

“After this camp, you know there’s a bunch of great kids ready to take a spot. They’re going to be working hard, so you’ve got to be playing your best hockey every time you get a chance.”

Around the boards: The Bruins trimmed their roster by one on Friday, placing free-agent acquisition Kenny Agostino on waivers. Cassidy said the B’s would wait until Saturday’s noon deadline, before which an NHL team could claim him, to decide if he’ll stay in Boston’s camp or be assigned to AHL Providence. “From what I did see, he’s a smart player who makes plays,” Cassidy said of Agostino, the 2016-17 AHL scoring leader, who is 1-2–3 in three preseason games. “(But) we’re looking to upgrade speed in our lineup; I think that’s an area where we have a few people in front of him.”...

Winger Peter Cehlarik, who had shoulder surgery in May, received medical clearance and participated in his first practice on Friday. “Camp started today for me,” said Cehlarik, who skated at left wing with Krejci and Pastrnak. “I had to be patient with it, but I’m healthy now.” Cehlarik, who played his first 11 NHL games last season (two assists), won’t be in Saturday’s lineup ...

Cassidy named Anton Khudobin Saturday’s starting goalie against the Blackhawks, and said he’d probably hold captain Zdeno Chara, who was sick earlier in the week, out of the preseason finale. Center Austin Czarnik, who missed practice because of illness, probably won’t play, either.

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